NFC Notes: Cowboys, Odell Beckham Jr, Rams, Seahawks

Cowboys

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is confident that they are still a quality team despite losing back-to-back games. 

“I’m sure a bunch of people are jumping off the bandwagon,” Prescott said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “Which is fine with us because we know what we’re capable of. We know the team we have. More importantly, we know the men that are in that locker room, and that’s the most important thing, just our belief in each other. That’s not going anywhere. It’s not fading. We lost a tough one in an overtime game today and that’s the bottom line.”

Prescott added that he feels it’s his responsibility to “lift guys up,” but will not force himself to play outside his skillset. 

“(It’s) my job, to lift guys up,” Prescott said. “But that doesn’t mean trying to force things and that doesn’t mean trying to do anything outside of the game plan. It’s not necessarily a balance, it’s about being who I am. The opinions of what other people have in mind for my job to be doesn’t really affect the way I approach my work each and every day.”

The Cowboys shuffled around their offensive line in Thursday’s game to feature La’El Collins at right tackle and Connor Williams at left guard until reverting back to RT Terence Steele and LG Connor McGovern. Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy explains that they wanted to rotate their players to deal with a short week after Week 11. 

“You obviously have a lot of experience with both (Williams) and (Collins),” McCarthy said. “We wanted to keep those guys involved. The thought was to give them the third series. We anticipated this being a long, grind-it-out type of game. Also, part of the thinking was the four games in 12 days. That was part of the thought process when we came out of the game-planning meeting, particularly with these four games, you want to play as many players as possible.”

Rams

Rams’ HC Sean McVay notes that there will likely be more contributions from WR Odell Beckham and LB Von Miller this week against the Packers, as the two veterans have needed time to learn a new playbook.

“Odell [is] just getting more familiar,” McVay said, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN. “I mean for him to be able to even play in the game against the Niners is an incredible credit to him. It helps because he’s getting up to speed mentally. You don’t take for granted how important those physical reps and the rapport that he and Matthew are continuing to develop is and so because we’ll do a little bit more reps today, we’ll end up getting about the same amount that we would in a normal week, so it will be a good thing, but he’s done great. Von did a good job, played a lot of snaps. I think he’ll be that much more healthy, that much more fresh coming off the bye and giving his ankle another handful of days to continue to make progress and steps in the right direction without having any setbacks over these last couple of weeks.”

Beckham commented on the process of joining the Rams, drawing praise from QB Matthew Stafford. Miller also spoke about how he considers his injuries to be a non-factor at this point in the season.

“I’ve definitely felt like I haven’t been in that flow that I would’ve normally stayed in with a regular schedule,” Beckham said. “So just trying to get back into that and find my way back to where I know I can be.”

“Nine times out of 10, he breaks the huddle with a whole bunch of confidence, knowing what he’s about to do, which is awesome for me as a quarterback to be able to just kind of do my job,” Stafford said of Beckham.

“I’m feeling pretty good, feel a little bit more comfortable with the playbook, ankle is a whole lot healthier,” Miller said. “So the bye week was great. It’s a non-factor. What we did was perfect by waiting one week, playing a week and then having a bye week after. Just kind of cleaned up some stuff, so it’s really a nonfactor and I really don’t think about it.”

• Rams’ CB Jalen Ramsey offered a message for fans about the team’s defensive issues: “Rest assured that we’re definitely trying to right our wrongs and get everything right. In game, out of the game, whenever. We want to win. We hate losing.” (Lindsey Thiry)

Seahawks

• Seahawks HC Pete Carroll implied that they will elevate a running back from their practice squad for Monday’s game. (John Boyle)
• Carroll said Damien Lewis hyperextended his elbow last week and Kyle Fuller is an option to play at left guard. (Curtis Crabtree)
• According to Carroll, there’s a chance RB Rashaad Penny and OL Jamarco Jones could be placed on injured reserve. (John Boyle)